The first few miles were through the parks and it was really crowded. Lots of bob, weave, speed up, and slow down. I enjoyed running through Cars Land with all the neon lights glowing in the semi-darkness. I noticed a few characters along the course, but the only ones I remember are Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and those awesome green army men from Toy Story. Running through the castle was nice, but no where near spectacular as running through the castle at the Disney World Marathon.

Shortly after being funneled onto the roads, there was a decent-sized overpass hill. It was the only real hill of the race. Things had least started to thin out by this point, so I settled in to a semi-aggressive pace. It had been about 10 months since my last Half Marathon, and I wanted to see what I could do on this flat course (the local ones are a bit hilly). I hoped that I wasn't pushing too hard, but I felt good. I was starting to knock back miles a bit faster than the 7:45/mile goal pace. I was also annoyed by the slow, early miles and hoped to make up time.

There were a bunch of classic cars along the side of the road at the halfway point. I think there were more Corvettes than anything. I also noticed some Mustangs later on. After passing the cars, a man in a yellow shirt ran along side me and said that he liked the pace I was running. He asked my goal and I said under 1:45. We chatted a bit as we ran. We had both run at Disney World in January and would be getting our Coast to Coast medals after the race.

There was a little stretch along a river path through dirt away from the street. Soon after, we reached Angel Stadium where we got to run around home plate and the warning track. There cheering spectators in the stadium which made me feel slightly major league. I heard an announcer, but I'm didn't catch my name. I think I heard him say Arizona. The runners were shown on the Jumbotron, but I think that they were showing the runners as they crossed home, and you didn't face the screen until later.

After leaving the stadium, it was just under 10 miles in. I was still feeling pretty good, so I decided to push it and see what I could do. I had lost my yellow-shirted friend at a water stop, and he found me again. The last mile or so was rough, but I kept pushing. Yellow shirt offered encouragement along the way. I could tell by my Garmin that I had to be getting close to the end, but there were a lot of little dog legs along the course, and I couldn't see the finish line until there were about 100 meters left. The sides of the course were packed with cheerleaders and spectators (if I had a dime for every cheerleader out there, I could have paid my entry fee). I didn't pay too much attention to them though, I just focused straight ahead hoping that darn finish line would appear. When I finally saw it, I was able to eke out a little extra and finished strong.

My last couple of races I had been wondering if I had held something back, but I feel like I gave a great effort on this race. I also knocked 7 minutes off my PR :)

Try to get there even earlier so I can start further up (and actually in) the corral.

It ended up not being an issue, but wear running shoes the day before if I'm going to be spending a lot of time on my feet.

I ran with my Natahan Sprint belt, which I probably didn't need. Still, it was nice to take a few sips early on before the water stops were regular.

Walked to the refreshments, medal people, and bag area. I consumed water, a banana, and my Luna bar. I changed into my fresh clothes and tried to get in touch with my husband. Ring, ring, ring... He had been a good boy and tried to see me, but was re-directed by race officials a few times and got there too late. He also left his phone in the room. I gave up and made my way back to the hotel. He showed up about an hour later.


The early miles were slow because of the crowd, so I think that I could have been at least a minute faster.

It had been a while since I had run a Half, so I'm sure my pacing could be honed further.


Since I had an early start, the weather was mostly cool and shady. My cousin was in one of the later corrals, and he said that it got hot.

Lots of water water stops. On course distractions were fun, but Disney World was better (owning more land helps, I'm sure).

Great medals.

Post-race food was so-so. I had a banana and they gave each runner a box with peanut butter, a mini Clif bar, an Almond Roca, and some crackers. I believe that there were bagels as well.